What’s The Rage Of Pickleball?

When was the last time you saw a “new” sport walk itself into your community and catch fire. I think we’ve all seen it with Pickleball in Chatham-Kent.

If you fall into the demographic of being 50 or younger, Pickleball wasn’t even around when you were born. Invented in 1965, the game remained in its creators backyard for years, until 1976 when the first tournament on record was held.

In that regard, Pickleball as an organized sport wasn’t in existence for anyone under 40 years old.

Myself, I’d never seen the sport until this past year while in Florida visiting friends in a retirement community. And there, in all their glory, were dozens of pickleball courts side by side, with hundreds of seniors playing the sport, many at a pace I thought was reserved for people much younger than I.

Upon returning back to Chatham-Kent, I sat at my computer and found we have a thriving Pickleball organization of our own.

What’s the rage?

I didn’t know at first, until I walked through the St. Clair HealthPlex on a day Pickleball was on the schedule.

There on the courts were young and old, men and women, playing, smiling, and being active.

We are living in an increasingly sedentary world, and here people were connecting. On the sidelines, people were talking (no phones in sight).

On the court, they helped the newcomers, while the more skilled pounded a wiffleball back in forth in what I’ve come to know as a mix between badminton, tennis, and a souped up ping pong, with several unique rules of its own.

A very new club in Chatham-Kent, formed in the spring of 2016, I hope Chatham-Kent council, as they look to create a healthy, active community, consider including multiple outdoor pickleball courts in any new construction, or renovation to existing sites for that matter.

Kudos to the Chatham-Kent Pickleball Club. I can understand why this sport is growing across North America, and is all the rage here in Chatham-Kent.